Old Colony Mennonites in Argentina and Bolivia : nation making, religious conflict and imagination of the future / / by Lorenzo Cañás Bottos.

• Superior document: Religion in the Americas series, v. 7
• Author: Cañás Bottos, Lorenzo.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Religion in the Americas series ; v. 7.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (234 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This volume challenges received images of Old Colony Mennonites as ‘living in the past' or perfect examples of community. Through the concept of the ‘imagination of the future’ this book presents an analysis of their historical transformations as the result of attempting to apply in practice their Christian ideals of building a community of believers in the world, while remaining separate from it. It argues that while they contributed to the territorialisation of the states that hosted them through their migrations from sixteenth-century Europe to late twentieth-century Latin America, they systematically rejected being incorporated into the nation through the building of a community of agricultural settlements that maintain ties across international borders. It explores how these imaginations are maintained and transformed through the analysis of schisms, conflict, and border management, together with a biographical approach to conversion narratives, and the religious experience.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Materials -- Introduction -- Chapter One. The Transformations Of Community -- Chapter Two. Negotiating States, Rejecting Nations -- Chapter Three. Inter-Colony Dynamics -- Chapter Four. Articulations, Connections And Short-Circuits -- Chapter Five. Careers In The Faith -- Chapter Six. Scriptural Practices -- Chapter Seven. The Handling Of Dissenters -- Conclusions -- Glossary -- References -- Index.